Northern Suburbs Schools

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. What is the state government doing to support students and schools in the northern suburbs?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (14:54): I am delighted to receive this question from the member for Light, who has stood up for the schools and students, particularly in his area, for many years. I hope he continues to do that for a long time. He and I recently visited Munno Para Primary. It was the first time I had been to that school, and a delightful, well-kept and well-presented school it is. The children there are receiving excellent education. They are receiving education on the basis of interventions that are largely funded through the Gonski arrangement that was struck some time ago with the federal government.

Over the past four years, including this year as year 4, they have received $560,000 through the Gonski arrangements. That has resulted in the school being able to identify early when children are struggling with their literacy or their numeracy, the foundation blocks of a decent education, and being able to fund interventions to support those students. Naturally, that support is not yet sufficient to make a significant difference. What we are looking forward to are the final two years of Gonski, when the money really accelerates.

As the house may or may not be aware, the Gonski arrangement is significantly back-ended for South Australia. In fact, the first four years, of which this grant of $560,000 for Munno Para Primary is an example, represents a mere 23 per cent of the total Gonski funding coming for our education system. We are very much looking forward to the next two years. However, there are, as members will be aware, two very serious threats to that funding. The first is that the federal government has, at this stage, refused to continue its commitment to those final two years and, as members will be aware, are therefore threatening our schools with a loss of $335 million.

For Munno Para, that figure translates into something like $360,000 that they will not be receiving in the final two years as a result of the federal government stepping away. What was of concern to me recently, when discussions about funding for Gonski were raised—it is continuously raised with me by members of the public, members of the education system and occasionally members of the media—was that it is now unclear whether the state level of funding will be committed to for the final two years in the event of a change of government at the next election.

The final year, worth something like $90 million from state funding, is now called into question, which for Munno Para translates into $100,000 of state funding to add to the funding that is being cut by the federal government. There are those who claim that money makes no difference. I do not think there is a single parent who engages in fundraising for their school who believes that is true. Of course it matters how you spend the money. A school like Munno Para spends the money in an extraordinarily good way, intervening to support students to get the education they need and deserve.

Another example in the northern area, of course, is all of the secondary schools that have formed a coalition called NASSSA. They have been so successful in supporting students to complete school and, at the same time, to get VET training, that they won the Australian Training Awards at the end of last year, which is an extraordinary achievement. I thank the member for his question. Schools in the north are doing well but are imperilled through a series of threats to their funding over the next couple of years.